Superpro Spotlight - Cassie & Oscar Pound, Quality Heating & Cooling

Alyssa Bennett, Director of Growth

Cassie & Oscar Pound, Quality Heating & Cooling

Ordinary people, extraordinary courage.

This is how we do the work.

OUR STORY

Built on the foundation of integrity, determination, and passion, Cassie and Oscar Pound are revolutionizing the home services industry. The owners of what was once a one-truck operation, have now built a multi-million dollar heating and air company that dominates the Oklahoma market.

“It’s been a lot of trial and error, and we had no clue what we were doing. We’ve definitely made mistakes, and worked hard for our victories.” - Cassie

If you were to meet a thousand Pros in a day, Cassie is the one Pro whose name you won’t forget. A true hustler, she is boldly confident and being told ‘no’ is her strongest motivation.

Oscar on the other hand is a man of few words, but has eyes filled with stories. When he chooses to speak, everybody stops what they are doing and listens. A family man, he will stop at nothing to provide for his loved ones.

Together, they are Oklahoma’s power Pros.

Cassie and Oscar are the kind of business owners that have built a unique and strong company culture. Even after a long day’s work, you will find their technicians staying late to have a bowl of Oscar’s homemade gumbo, drinking a beer, or simply looking for things to help out with around the office because they feel like they are a part of the family.

“We care for our techs like we care for our kids. There were times if we couldn’t take a paycheck, we made sure our employees did.” - Oscar

BACKGROUND

Growing up, Oscar knew he was never going to go to college. He enjoyed working with his hands and found fulfillment in building something out of nothing. Even at the age of 17, Oscar was a forward-thinker and job security was most important to him. He wanted a skill set that he could take with him anywhere he lived. Recognizing that heating and air conditioning is a necessity to our livelihood, he knew this was his destiny and jumped right into doing the work.

Oscar started out doing maintenance for commercial buildings, and with hard work and intellect, he was quickly promoted through the ranks. It wasn’t long before Oscar realized he could do this on his own, but better.

Oscar ran a successful one-truck operation for 5 years, but was working crazy hours running the entire business on his own. Working 18 hours a day, he was spending more time with his customers than his own family. Raising six kids, Oscar and Cassie felt immense pressure to succeed. It was time for Oscar to grow his team, and he needed a work horse.

Cassie didn’t waste any time getting to work. Jumping right into the position of VP and Operations Manager, Cassie described her days as mass chaos. Buried in paper invoices, struggling with dropped calls and miscommunication with customers, she knew they would not be able to scale their business using pen and paper.

“Our guys would leave for the day with a schedule that looked like a kindergarten art project. We had no real scheduling system and no real tracking.” - Cassie

Quality Heating and Cooling was up and running on Housecall Pro in under a week. Finally having an easy operating system in place, Oscar was able to switch his focus from working in his business to working on his business.

OUR TEAM

Even though it wasn’t an obvious fit, they made a bet on one of their first technicians and hired their landscaper, Brent. Brent had no experience in HVAC, but that didn’t matter to Oscar and Cassie. They saw in him what they look for in all of their new employees - strong work ethic, attention to detail, and good communication skills. They believe that the quality of their business is only as good as the technicians you send to your customers’ homes. If you look for personalities that are a good culture fit, the rest can be taught.

“We prefer hiring guys with no experience. We want to build and train them so they don’t have bad habits, and are receptive to learn.” - Oscar

All of their technicians have worked alongside Oscar at some point. Oscar operates at a high level and that’s how he sets the standard. True leaders are the pinnacle of what they expect from the people around them, and leading by example encourages his people to aim for that.

The Pounds do bi-weekly one-on-one meetings with each of their employees to maintain good relationships with their employees, and help them stay on track to hit their goals. Their teams’ personal lives are just as important to them as the work they do day-in and day-out. As business owners and leaders, they want their techs to feel valued and supported in all aspects of their life.

“Transparency is what it takes to be a good leader. You have to be invested in their personal life, and also be available to them at all times. You can’t just care about them as an employee, but a human being.” - Cassie

The biggest lesson Oscar learned in his early days of working for other companies was how important giving and receiving verbal confirmations are. He knew he was doing good at his job because he was always getting raises and promotions, but he never received compliments from his boss letting him know how great he was doing.

“You would be surprised how loyal they will be to you if they think they are getting your approval. I try and verbally let my guys know how they’re doing because I know that ultimately they want me happy and they get satisfaction from knowing they’re doing a good job.” - Oscar

Providing his team with positive affirmations lifts the overall morale, encourages his techs to grow, and also makes it easier on Oscar when he may need to come down on them a bit harder for making mistakes or doing lazy work. No day is perfect, but if the positive outweighs the negative, that means his team goes home feeling good about the work they achieved and that’s what’s most important to Oscar.

OUR CUSTOMERS

There is a reason why Quality Heating and Cooling is the highest rated HVAC company in their area. Cassie and Oscar understand it’s not about them, it’s all about their customers. Every moment of every job is of critical matter. The value of their company and the value of their brand they have worked so hard to build completely depends on the experience and quality of service that they provide to their customers.

There is no doubt that Quality Heating & Cooling sets the industry standard when it comes to customer satisfaction. If you were to shadow them on a job site, you will never find a tech walking around - but running from task to task.

“Our techs run on the job site because of the sense of urgency we have created in them. From the moment they arrive, the customer is their priority.” - Oscar

For Quality Heating and Cooling, the year of 2019 is all about their customers. By giving their customer the option to book online, they have opened up a market for new customers - the younger generation that is primed to book services online just like they would book a flight, or a dinner reservation.

“Housecall Pro has been a gamechanger for our business. Our goal for 2019 is to hit $3.5 million in revenue, and Housecall Pro will help us get there.” - Cassie

They plan on using Housecall Pro to close 500 Service Agreements this next year. This will allow them to set their customer up for success by extending the lifetime of their AC/Heating units while guaranteeing their repeat business to combat for their slow season.

OUR COMMUNITY

Cassie and Oscar are very active within their community, and are always looking for ways to help others. They do annual paper and food drives for their public schools, and are also members of their Chamber of Commerce. This holiday season, when their customers visit their website to book their services online, they have the option to donate a toy to a child in need and in turn they get $20 off their diagnostic fee.

Identifying themselves as community leaders in Oklahoma, they are looking to share their knowledge with all companies in the home service industry - even HVAC companies.

“Working together with other Pros gives more value to the industry and the market. Working against each other, constantly undercutting each other, devalues what we’re all doing.” - Cassie

Cassie and Oscar host monthly Pro Meetups in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City to grow the Housecall Pro community, learn from each other, send each other referral jobs, and bring value back into the home service industry so customers will be more trusting for Pros to enter their homes, and willing to pay the price you deserve - no questions asked.

Quality Heating & Cooling is setting the new industry standard. Allowing their customers to book online, earning their trust by delivering great work, and investing in their community to help other Pros go from good to great, Cassie and Oscar Pound are true Superpros.

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